Seeing Long Yi still sleeping despite having taken away his blanket, Wei Ping proceeded to shake him awake. But before he could grab him, Long Yi turned to his side at just the right moment to dodge his grasp.
“Give me a few more minutes,” Long Yi mumbled.
Having shed his mortality, a Foundation Establishment cultivator naturally wouldn’t be caught off guard so easily, even in their sleep. It wasn’t a surprise that Long Yi had detected his presence already. To be precise, he had long detected Wei Ping before he even opened the door to his room.
“If y-you’re aware enough to talk, then wake up! We have to g-get going!”
“You guys can take off without me. I’ll catch up later.”
“We barely h-have enough room after buying a third Skyrunner. We can’t s-spare one for you. Do you think you can catch up without o-one? Your Qi will d-dry up long before you see our s-shadow.”
The giant man in the bed exhaled forcefully as he roused from his slumber. He slowly sat as he stretched his back. Just as he was standing up, a third person entered the room.
“What are you guys doing? Everyone is waiting for you.”
“B-Boss, Long Yi just woke up.”
“Yeah, yeah. My bad.”
“What in the world were you doing? You knew that we were—wait, is that what you were doing?” Li Lang’s eyes widened as they turned to the jade-green broadsword lying on the bed.
“Yeah. I tried making an artifact on a whim last night using the last of the materials you gave me for practice. It seems like I succeeded.”
“You just happen to succeed? To think you said you had no talent in the crafts.”
“Well, Teacher Tie Qian did say it is easier to work on artifacts in a grade that is a realm lower than my cultivation.”
“Is t-that a thing?” Wei Ping asked. “Then they s-should dedicate more time to producing a-artifacts of a lower level to increase the supply.”
“It’s not without good reason they don’t do that often in any craft,” Long Yi continued. “They say it stifles development if one dedicates too much time on lower grade items. Something about getting complacent while you instead need to keep taking on new challenges to progress.”
“We can save this conversation for the trip to the pocket realm,” Li Lang interrupted. “Come on, let’s go.”
With that said, the trio reunited with their students waiting outside and began their journey towards the pocket realm. Their convoy of three Skyrunners could only travel as fast as their weakest link. That meant their journey would take days, if not an entire week.
Li Lang used this time to teach the kids what to expect when they arrived at the pocket realm. After all, he planned to have the majority of them reside there for the foreseeable future while he was still debating if he should keep someone stationed in their estate in Emberglow City as their public face.
“You will be faced with trials where your every move will be monitored. The reward for completing these trials will be based on your actions, often complementing what you have shown. Every day, if the realm deems your progress lacking, it will incur a point penalty, so be sure to plan your schedule carefully.”
His explanations were no different from those of various organizations educating their new generation’s first foray into the pocket realm. They also didn’t want to reveal too many details about their relationship with the realm. Even the trial points would be reinstated when they entered because it created a sense of urgency that spurred progress.
There was a colossal difference in motivation when a time limit was imposed. Of course, that didn’t mean blindly adding pressure on people was correct. There was a balance in all things. Straying off to either side would only stagger their students’ growth. They believed the system the pocket realm’s previous creator left behind had gotten the right balance.
While Li Lang wasn’t too worried about his students’ progress in cultivation techniques once they entered, crafts were another story. He didn’t oversee their training in that area, so he tried his best to gauge where they currently were and gave them some advice.
Filled with preparations to be made and training to be done, a week was only a brief period of time for a cultivator.
They soon spotted the four towering stone pillars that represented the entrance to The Great Trial of Water Crest and a teahouse nearby. They were surprised to find the place bustling with activity.
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The group had expected the place to only have an elder or two from various factions, plus some people from Nightmoon Valley. However, reality was different. The entire place was as lively as their previous visit when each organization had brought along hundreds of disciples. Though there was one stark difference. The crowd didn’t consist of young disciples who were new to the journey of cultivation, but older ladies and gentlemen. It was hard to tell their exact age, but one could tell at a glance that they were all experts to a degree. Few were below the Foundation Establishment Realm.
“What’s going on here? Is this going to be a big event?” Long Yi muttered to no one in particular.
“Hmm, Senior Jian did say they had to notify all parties about their possession of the pocket realm, but I didn’t expect so many people to show up—”
“Boss, look c-carefully. Their clothes a-are varied. The majority of them are independent cultivators!”
Everyone, including their students, craned their necks down to get a second look at the crowd. They swiftly realized Wei Ping had been right! The mismatched and scattered attire indicated they didn’t come from a few large groups, but from a gathering of individuals.
This led the group to wonder about their purpose here, instead. It was a curious sight.
They didn’t get lost in their musing for long as they had to land. They had no trouble finding the area belonging to Nightmoon Valley and disembarked near their towering tent. As if having predicted their arrival, Jian Beiyun suddenly emerged to welcome them. Naturally, Sima Xue tagged along as well.
“Welcome, welcome. Everything is ready. Just come with us.”
“Yeah, Senior Brother has been working really hard! He even skipped out on his regular gatherings at the Alchemy Guild.”
The group chatted as they walked into the tent, away from prying eyes. There were numerous Nightmoon Valley disciples present, all wearing the same beige robes. Very soon, Li Lang and his companions were handed sets of the same attire along with a small pouch.
Inside, they found a translucent brown amulet. Jian Beiyun quickly informed them of its purpose.
“It’s to conceal you from all the experts who will be carefully watching. Make sure you wear it. You can hang it on your waist, wrist, ankle, or anything, really.”
After ensuring all their students were dressed, they were then guided outside, toward the teahouse that was surrounded by cultivators.
“There sure are a lot of independent cultivators around,” Li Lang commented.
“I’m sure one of the organizations here today purposefully leaked the news in order to put pressure on us,” Jian Beiyun replied.
“They sure are something to have the guts to apply pressure to an organization as big as yours.”
“We’re used to it. It happens all the time as long as there are benefits to fight for. It’s their way of warning us not to monopolize the pocket realm. Not that we would. Anyway, leave the politicking to us. You have your own role to carry out today.”
Li Lang nodded and didn’t say anything else. He glanced out at the crowd of cultivators, waiting for the start of the rowdy event that his allies had planned. He was destined not to be in the spotlight, as the entire goal was to have Nightmoon Valley draw all the attention.
Despite thousands upon thousands of cultivators present, everyone knew to keep quiet when a young woman flew up toward the roof of the teahouse. Her robes marked her as a member of Nightmoon Valley, commanding respect from the crowd.
“Greetings everyone!” She yelled as she clasped her fist toward her audience. “Thank you for coming today, where our Nightmoon Valley will be officially announcing our ownership of the pocket realm known as The Great Trial of Water Crest!”
The crowd cheered, so the woman allowed them a few seconds to get it out of their system.
“Now, this doesn’t mean our Nightmoon Valley plans to monopolize this wonderful realm. It can help produce many generations of young heroes and heroines, so we plan to proceed with as few changes as possible.”
“If you control it, doesn’t that mean you can expand the number of people allowed in? Or even open the realm more often. You saying you plan to keep things the same just means you’ll monopolize all these new opportunities, right?”
“This friend in the crowd, I hope you’ll not look down on our valley’s integrity. We have no such schemes in mind.”
“Still, for the sake of fairness, you should continue to allow the various organizations to post their people here to monitor the situation.”
The woman hovering in the air simply smiled pleasantly at the proposal and patiently explained how it wasn’t appropriate for outsiders to be stationed near their property. Despite the calmness the Nightmoon Valley Elder had, Li Lang noticed his companion didn’t share the same composure. Sima Xue glared at the troublesome member of the audience with hostility.
“How dare that guy disrespect Elder Yun like that,” Sima Xue muttered.
“Calm down,” the elder Nightmoon Valley disciple placated. “The elder knows how to handle the situation. And stop releasing your killing intent on that man. It’s not him you should be angry towards. He’s just a puppet.”
The Elder Yun patiently explained the plans her organization had for the pocket realm, while various members of the crowd continued to fire off multiple questions. Still, these independent cultivators had limited influence, so they weren’t able to pressure the experienced elder at all. That was until a member of one of the established organizations stepped out to join in.
“I am Elder Ji from the Drenched Earth Sect. I ask that Nightmoon Valley reconsider the proposal to allow members of other organizations to station their people here.”
The crowd instantly quieted down as they sensed the drama about to unfold. There was a huge difference between an independent cultivator questioning Nightmoon Valley and a member of a large organization doing it. Everyone was excited to see how this would play out.
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